US-Russia plan truce deal that would cement Putin’s gains in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports
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A Ukrainian serviceman preparing to fire a mortar towards Russian positions on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
PHOTO: AFP/24TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE OF UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES/OLEG PETRASIUK
Follow topic:
- US and Russia may agree to halt the Ukraine war, potentially ceding occupied territory to Moscow.
- The White House dismissed the report as speculation, while Russia and Ukraine have yet to comment.
- Trump threatens sanctions but seeks a summit with Putin, while Poland's Tusk sees a potential "freeze" in the conflict.
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WASHINGTON - The US and Russia are aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Moscow’s occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, Bloomberg News reported on Aug 8.
US and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting
The White House dismissed the Bloomberg story as speculation.
A Kremlin spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Addressing reporters at the White House on Aug 8, Mr Trump suggested an agreement would involve some exchange of land.
“There’ll be some swopping of territories to the betterment of both,” Mr Trump said.
The President said details on the summit with Mr Putin would be released as soon as Aug 8.
“I’ll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner, but I guess there are security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make,” Mr Trump said.
There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities.
However, in a statement published after the report that did not refer to it, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The United States is determined to achieve a ceasefire, and we must jointly support all constructive steps. A dignified, reliable, and lasting peace can only be the result of our joint efforts.”
Reuters could not immediately verify the details included in the report.
Mr Putin claims four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.
His forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions at present.
Ukraine has previously signalled a willingness to be flexible in the search for an end to a war that has ravaged its towns and cities and killed large numbers of its soldiers and citizens.
However, accepting the loss of around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory would be very painful and politically challenging for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government.
Mr Tyson Barker, the US State Department’s former deputy special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery, said the proposal, as outlined by Bloomberg, would be immediately rejected by the Ukrainians.
“The best the Ukrainians can do is remain firm in their objections and their conditions for a negotiated settlement, while demonstrating their gratitude for American support,” said Mr Barker, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council.
Under the putative deal, according to Bloomberg, Russia would halt its offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions along current battle lines.
Since his return to the White House in January, Mr Trump has moved to mend relations with Russia and sought to end the war, although in his public comments, he has veered between admiration and sharp criticism of Mr Putin.
In a sign of his growing frustration with Mr Putin’s refusal to halt Russia’s military offensive, Mr Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions from Aug 8 against Moscow and countries that buy its exports unless the Russian leader agrees to end the 3½-year conflict, the deadliest in Europe since World War II.
But with the Putin-Trump summit expected in the coming days, possibly in the United Arab Emirates, it is unclear whether those sanctions will take effect or will be delayed or cancelled.
Mr Trump’s special envoy, Mr Steve Witkoff, held three hours of talks
‘Certain signals’
Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, a close ally of Ukraine, said earlier on Aug 8 that a pause in the conflict could be close.
He was speaking after talks with Mr Zelensky.
“There are certain signals, and we also have an intuition, that perhaps a freeze in the conflict – I don’t want to say the end, but a freeze in the conflict – is closer than it is further away,” Mr Tusk told a news conference. “There are hopes for this.”
Mr Tusk also said Mr Zelensky was “very cautious but optimistic”, and that Ukraine was keen that Poland and other European countries play a role in planning for a ceasefire and an eventual peace settlement. REUTERS
